1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic clothes washer and more particularly to a vertical axis washer having an agitator and wash basket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional vertical-axis automatic washers, there is a central agitator which oscillates during the wash portion of the cycle within a wash basket holding the materials to be washed, the wash basket being held in a fixed position relative to the washer cabinet by a brake. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,227 discloses a direct drive motor that drives an agitator by means of the motor shaft and drives the basket by means of a coupling between the motor housing and the basket. The basket is locked by a brake mechanism during agitation.
In other constructions the basket does move during agitation, but either there is no agitator present, or else the basket moves with the agitator.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,521 discloses an automatic washer in which there is no vertical axis agitator, but rather the basket itself is rotated periodically during the wash operation to effect mechanical agitation of the clothes load.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,486 discloses an automatic washer wherein a central agitator is affixed to the basket and both the basket and agitator move together during the agitation portion of the wash cycle.